The first full English transaltion of ancient Kyrgyz epos Manas.

The biggest epos in the world, the masterpiece epic Manas consists of more than 500,000 lines, that is 20 times longer than Homer's Iliad and Odyssey combined. The epos Manas is on UNESCO Intangible Heritage list. In 1994 the General Assembly of the United Nations made a decision on the worldwide celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the epos Manas, implemented in 1995. Certain motifs of the epos were connected to known historical facts, the plot describes the heroic deeds of the legendary Khan Manas, who fought for the independence of the Kyrgyz from Chinese invasions in 995 A.D. For the most part, it is an artistic and poetic work in which the historical life of people is reflected in general artistic expressions, poetic generalization of all the typical characteristics that have been in the life of Kyrgyz people for centuries.

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About translator

Akylay Baimatova translated Epos Manas into English using Mar Baijiev’s Russian translation as a guide. There are very few translations of this work available in English and the versions that are available do not do justice to a work of this magnitude .

Akylay is a native Kyrgyz who grew up studying verses of Epos Manas and celebrating its epic stories. This project started from Akylay’s desire to teach her own American children (who only speak English) about their Kyrgyz family history and the rich culture of a country that is rarely studied.

Akylay Baimatova lives in Florida (16 years and counting) and works as a high school science teacher. She strongly believes that bilingual translators present the best, most honest work. When she went to Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University, she used to love Mar Baijievs’ books, and when his version of Tales of Manas was published in 2011, she was in awe with this book, which expresses the ideas and cultural nuances in full color.